Sankararaman murder: Case adjourned to August 24

Puducherry: A court here on Friday adjourned to August 24 the hearing in the Sankararaman murder case in which Kanchi Sankaracharya Jayendra Saraswathi and his junior Vijayendra are the prime accused.

Only seven of the 24 accused were present when the case came up for hearing before Principal District and Sessions Judge of Puducherry CS Murugan.

The absentees included the two seers who have been charged under sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 302 (murder).

The Judge adjourned the case after Special Public Prosecutor N Devadoss sought time in view of the plea by Sankararaman`s son Anand Sharma seeking copies of some documents and cassettes pending with the CB-CID headquarters in Chennai.

Devadoss said the Judge had earlier directed the prosecution to furnish the copies to Sharma.

Sankararaman, Manager of Varadarajaperumal temple in Kancheepuram in Tamil Nadu, was murdered in the temple premises on September 3, 2004. The two sankaracharyas have been charged with hatching a conspiracy to kill him due to previous enmity.